This embedded course allows students an incredible opportunity to prepare for and engage in international study through engaged coursework. The in class lectures and discussions will be focused on fostering an understanding of the deep implication of the visual arts in their social and cultural contexts. Specifically, we will be engaging in conversations around how mythology iconography has shaped cultural identities, and continues to play a role in contemporary culture. We will travel to Croatia in order test our working theories, augment our understanding, and try to foster a better comprehension of what cultural and situational influences may have been important in the development of the myths and artwork. This course is an interdisciplinary, cross–cultural, historical, and contemporary examination of myth as it appears in the visual arts, literature, and film. The course is thematic and intercultural, for example in the way myths are told in historical cultures and then retold and transformed in art, literature, and films in later cultures. Thus, the course considers in what ways myths are reconceived and altered when they appear in later cultures and in different media within the arts.

The course is intended to familiarize students with the ways that different cultures have interpreted the world in which they live—how cultures created their own explanations for phenomena they could not understand, and how contemporary culture gives new life to older myths. The course examines such questions as the meanings of myths as represented in the arts, the various purposes of myths in the arts, such as the functions of creation myths and myths of the hero; theories of how myths originate; and ways that myths have been analyzed, interpreted, and adapted in other cultures through the arts. We will investigate primary sources, absorb and recognize cultural differences, and use our time in Croatia to become stronger global citizens. Upon return from Croatia, we will embark upon using our newfound knowledge in a research project which will address not only important art historical information, but also a presentation in which students are asked to reflect upon their experiences abroad and discuss how the experience informed them as learners and individuals.

Dates     

March 2 - 7, 2024

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Eligibility

• The course is open to all majors at Penn State Lehigh Valley.
• Admission in the course and permission to travel with the group are at the discretion of the faculty leader and/or academic department hosting the course. Academic standing and disciplinary or conduct issues may impact eligibility.

Housing and Meals

During the embedded travel component, housing will consist of hotel/hostel accommodations.

Program Costs